Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)

The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections. The Commission is independent of Government and answerable to Parliament.

History

The Commission’s mandate was set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), and ranges from the regulation of political donations and expenditure by political and third parties through to promoting greater participation in the electoral process.

The Electoral Administration Act 2006 made a number of improvements to electoral registration, improving the security arrangements for absent voting, allowing observers to attend elections and a major change in reducing the minimum age for candidates at UK Parliamentary elections. It also introduced the Performance Standards regime for electoral services.

Election commission

An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of election procedures. The exact name used varies from country to country, including such terms as "electoral commission", "central election commission", "electoral branch" or "electoral court". Election commissions can be independent, mixed, judicial or governmental. They may also be responsible for electoral boundary delimitation. In federations there may be a separate body for each subnational government.

Electoral models

In the independent model the election commission is independent of the executive and manages its own budget. Countries with an independent election commission include Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Kingdom. In some of these countries the independence of the election commission is constitutionally guaranteed e.g. section 190 of the Constitution of South Africa.

In the branch model the election commission is often called an electoral branch, and is usually a constitutionally-recognized separate branch of government, with its members appointed by either the executive or the legislative branch. Countries with an electoral branch include Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The Commission consisted of fifteen members: five representatives, five senators, and five Supreme Court justices. Eight members were Republicans; seven were Democrats. The Commission ultimately voted along party lines to award all twenty disputed votes to Hayes, thus assuring his victory in the Electoral College by a margin of 185-184.

History

In 2008, the then Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government commissioned and published a study on introducing an electoral commission, carried out by academics from University College Dublin. After the 2011 general election, the Fine Gael and Labour parties formed a coalition government whose programme included a commitment to establish an electoral commission. Such a commission was also recommended in the Constitutional Convention's 2013 report on the system of elections to Dáil Éireann (lower house of the Oireachtas), which was also endorsed the government.Alan Kelly, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, outlined progress of the plan in Seanad Éireann (upper house of the Oireachtas) in December 2014, The government published a consultation paper in January 2015, and said it intended to introduce a bill in the Oireachtas in 2015. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht discussed the plan with Alan Kelly on 10 March 2015. Kelly stated that drafting the enabling bill would begin when the committee had consulted and reported back to him, that he expected the bill to be enacted by the end of 2015, that the commission would not be established before the next general election, and that functions should be assigned to it on a phased basis. In April 2015 the committee invited submissions on the government's consultation paper from interest groups, and held hearings with them in June and July. The committee's report was launched on 14 January 2016.

The Commission

I’m so fed up with what I seePeople around me aren’t living for anythingDistracted, destructiveI won’t stay quiet while things get worseI mean every word that I sayThis world is always against me but I’m staying thesameIf you don’t stand up for what’s in your heart,Time will see the end of usBut take heartWhen your life begins to bring you downYou’ll always find the will to standShoulder to shoulder we will stand togetherDon’t waste a moment of the time we haveGive me the power to take up my crossI need Your strength to shine a light to the lostAnd when the weight of the world begins to crush meFill me with righteous angerCome and fill me up with righteous angerI need a hand when my guilt gets me downIn this world you will have troubleBut I have overcome thisI have overcome this world

Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)

The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections. The Commission is independent of Government and answerable to Parliament.

History

The Commission’s mandate was set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), and ranges from the regulation of political donations and expenditure by political and third parties through to promoting greater participation in the electoral process.

The Electoral Administration Act 2006 made a number of improvements to electoral registration, improving the security arrangements for absent voting, allowing observers to attend elections and a major change in reducing the minimum age for candidates at UK Parliamentary elections. It also introduced the Performance Standards regime for electoral services.

President Akufo-Addo has directed theElectoralCommission (EC) to organise referenda in areas of the proposed new regions by the end of 2018. If you live in any of the six areas, I urge you to vote NO during the referenda for your own sake because you will be massively disappointed if the new regions are created. The new regions will not bring development to your area....

Would theElectoralCommission, finally, investigate theDUP’s Brexit donation? This week we found out that it will not —but quite why is still unclear ...TheElectoralCommission, two years on the from the referendum and almost 18 months after our first stories, decided it needed to find out more ... This week theElectoralCommission announced that it will not be investigating the allegations made in Spotlight....